1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to portable, indoor animal privies, and, more particularly, to indoor sanitary devices for collecting, removing and disposing of small animal excrement.
2. Prior Art
"Pet privies" and litter boxes provide a particularly unpleasant but necessary piece of equipment. Indoor litter boxes for pets, and especially for cats, are old and well known. The most comon is the "sandbox". A cardboard or wooden box is filled with sand or "litter" and placed in a secluded spot. The usual prior method of collecting and disposing of animal excrement of such indoor facilities has been to empty the sand or "litter" gravel from the tray or box by manual means.
Perforated scoops and other instruments have been developed to remove the solid waste from the litter. Unfortunately, these methods, in addition to being messy, are ineffective for completely cleaning the litter. Thus, the entire contents of the box must be disposed of periodically. To accomplish this disposal, the box or litter container must be completely lifted and the contents poured into a plastic bag or bucket. The result is spillage of the unsanitary and odiferous contents.
These tasks have been found so unpleasant by most that the privy is tolerated until the smell becomes unbearable and permeates the house before it is emptied. This condition is unsanitary, presenting a source of infection for both animal and owner. Further, even if antiseptic chemicals and odor-fighting preparations are used, it is difficult to disperse these substances throughout the litter. The open top and shallow sides make the admixing of antiseptic and air freshening chemicals with the litter particularly difficult.
Further, cats have a tendency, while performing toilet, to dig, scratch, scrape and otherwise kick and distribute litter on their excrement, and thus, about the tray. Because of the shallowness of the prior art devices, cats tend to "kick" the litter and excrement fragments out of the tray.
It would, therefore, be advantageous if a device to substantially eliminate the above disadvantages were available. The above difficulties can be effectively and efficiently overcome by use of the device and method of the instant invention. Specifically, a rotatable enclosure or chamber is charged with litter through a closeable first opening, which also provides the animal a means of ingress and egress. The opening is draped by an entry curtain, which not only prevents odor from escaping, but also prevents litter from being distributed and otherwise spilled from the box while the cat is performing toilet. After repeated use by the animal, the chamber is rotated to automatically effectively and efficiently separate feces and agglomerated litter. There is no need to manually contact or handle the soiled litter. The separated waste is expelled from the drum through a second sealable opening and deposited into a flexible plastic container, which, when full, is disposed of. If the litter should become so soiled as to warrant replacement, the chamber is simply rotated to an emptying position and tilted to deposit the entire contents of the drum in the flexible plastic container for disposal.
Chemicals, to prevent infection and deodorize the litter, can be evenly and effectively distributed by simply rotating the litter-filled chamber one or more times.